Not Quite Prepared
by Miss-Crystal-chan
Summary: "... while she was glad he finally got the message, she wasn't content with who began receiving the attention previously reserved for her." Princess Bubblegum isn't ready when Finn starts hanging out with Flame Princess. "... she understands sweet things don't stay too sweet for long."


_Princess Bubblegum isn't ready when Finn starts hanging out with Flame Princess._

She's not ready. That's a _fact_. Flame Princess is Finn's soul mate. That's an _opinion_, and it's definitely not hers.

Finn's _a _hero. That's an _opinion_. Finn's _the _hero. That's a fact. He's the hero of all of Ooo, _her _hero. He's the one _everybody _calls for when they're in danger. She knows she can't _hog_ the young human; she knows she can't keep him strictly in the candy kingdom. She knows she has to let him travel, saving other princesses from the Ice King or other random evils that seem to threaten the variety of kingdoms of Ooo quite too often...

And she's okay with that. She's perfectly fine, if not outright proud, with Finn saving lives everyday. He's a hero, and that's what heroes do. He battles things that have the potential of killing him all the time, and that's what heroes do. Dating things that have the potential of killing him with a mere flick of their wrist, that's _not_ what heroes do!

Finn has no idea how much she worries, how much she's been dreading the day he would leave. She doesn't "_like him a lot_". That's a fact. She _loves_ him. That's also a fact. No, she doesn't have the same type of feeling he has- er, _had_ for her. She cares for him. He's one of her closest friends, and she never wants that to change. He's like a little brother, someone she wants to protect, and while she's well aware that others would say it's the other way around, she knows her job is important, even if nobody realizes she's even doing it.

She's always been aware of Finn's crush on her. She thought it was cute how he would flush so easily and right away jump into helping her with a favor. It was sweet, but from what she's learned watching Marceline grossly suck the color from a strawberry or two, she understands sweet things don't stay too sweet for long. Those looks of admiration slowly began filling her with guilt while his sudden advances made her unbelievably uncomfortable. She told herself she _had_ to set the boy straight. Though, after weeks of just letting him go, she realized she simply couldn't. It's what kept him close to her, and she did _not_ want it to end... So she allowed it to continue. She let him have a moment or two in happiness before awkwardly moving away, pretending to be ignorant. She even went as far as pecking him on the cheek, and in retrospect that wasn't a good idea. She was unintentionally egging him on.

She spent hours pondering how a fourteen year old boy could actually believe he could develop a romantic relationship with someone 4 years older than him. Then it hit her; the boy relied mostly on imagination, instinct, and Jake, who himself still had a lot to learn, to teach him how to grow up into adulthood. Those things aren't enough for him though. She also blames his lack of knowledge on Earth's current status. She read that Earth was considerably different long ago. Apparently, before the Mushroom War, humans flourished, while creatures like candy people and rainicorns were non-existent. Technology was different, there were no talking animal running around, and there certainly wasn't a gigantic hole on their lovely planet. She believes the fact that Finn hadn't lived with any humans made him different; if he had, perhaps he would understand the age difference and the fact that just because "imaginative" things exist in their world doesn't mean something he simply imagines like her reciprocating his feelings would happen at some point. In a way, he is always in his _own little world_. That realization immediately makes her want to end his daydreaming before it's too late and he hates her forever.

However, she didn't count on Flame Princess impeding her. Before she knew it, Finn was done with her, and while she was glad he finally got the message, she wasn't content with who began receiving the attention previously reserved for her.

Flame Princess isn't the one. She will harm him. She's still evil, no matter what Finn says. Her kingdom is all traitors. She'll stab him in the back and ruin him for life... Those are opinions, _hers_ specifically, but to her, they're facts as clear as day.

She's surprised, to say the least, when Jake suggests that the reason she wants to break up the two _lovebirds _is because she's jealous, that she's jealous of Flame Princess for being the new target of Finn's affection. Sure, she misses the closeness she had with Finn that she's knows is only a fading memory at this point, but she's not one to get jealous, _especially_ of _Flame Princess_. She simply doesn't want her hero, that she has protected from the truth all this time, to be slaughtered by his own feeling for some wild fire element. She simply doesn't want everything to be in vain. She's not ready to lose someone close to her again... Then, she realizes it. She _really_ is the one being protected. While she continues to believe that _she_ is watching over _him_, _he_ is really the one protecting _her_, both physically _and_ mentally. He does so much for, protecting her from the disturbing Ice King and unknowingly from her own feelings and memories that she has repressed over the years. Jake's words have only strengthened her need to get him away from that girl. It's the least she can do; she owes him her life. That's a _fact_; the least she can do is save him from _her_... because...

"_You're a hero, Finn. You're my hero."_

And as Jake says, "_Finn deserves to be happy!"_

And he won't be happy with her. That's a _fact_.

* * *

I've been freaking over the upcoming episode of Adventure Time, and after reading some hypotheses for what could happen, this little explanation popped into my head. Sorry, if it sucks but I really wanted to finish it! I really don't want to hate Princess Bubblegum, even though I did when I first started watching AT... It seems to me that they're really hyping up the episode to be "where PB gets jealous and she really loves Finn", but I think that's far from it (I hope).

By the way, **I DON'T HATE FLAME PRINCESS!** I just want to make that clear. Any Flame Princess bashing here is just PB's opinion of her- or what I hypothesize it to be after seeing the preview to "Burning Low".


End file.
